Portable communication devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and the like are often used by their owners to play games, for example to pass time when traveling or waiting for appointments. Due to the compact size of such devices, and the corresponding small size of the associated keypads, it can be quite inconvenient to try to manipulate a game using the keypad. Game pads or controllers have therefore been proposed in the past for use together with a portable communication device, the game pads having larger control buttons which are easier to manipulate and which can be manipulated with both hands simultaneously. Up to now, such devices have typically been designed to form fit to a particular phone model, so that a unique game pad or controller is required for each different phone or portable communicator model.
One example of a game pad controller, which is designed for use with a mobile phone, is the Sony Ericsson GameBoard EGB-10. This game pad controller has a carriage, which attaches to the phone, and the carriage in turn attaches to the game controller. This arrangement seats the mobile phone between left and right hand control pads of the controller, with a cable for electronic connection of the controller to the phone.